


Greenhouses And Old Bones

by BrokenBonesNathan



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Horrortale (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underfell (Undertale), Alternate Universe - Underswap (Undertale), Anxiety, Fluff, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Past Abuse, Past Domestic Violence, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Reader Is Not Chara (Undertale), Reader Is Not Frisk (Undertale), Reader plays guitar, Reader-Insert, Reverse Harem, Skeleton Puns, Will update tags, eventually, idk how to tag, maybe angst eventually, more sanses to be added, mostly female pronouns, no editing we die like men, reader is anxious, reader is shy, readers musical
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:46:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28464063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrokenBonesNathan/pseuds/BrokenBonesNathan
Summary: (Y/N) looses their job and is on the edge of being evicted when their good friend papyrus invites them to stay at his house as their housekeeper, cook, and gardener. Things get weird when you have strange dreams. Is that the void? Whats up with your stats? Will these piles of bones be able to help you move on from your past? Who is that goopy creature that talks in your head?And why, pray tell, are all these skeles so attractive?!first fic on ao3! im making the transition over from wattpad. Im bad at descriptions, so this will probably get rewritten.weekly updates!!
Relationships: Papyrus (Horrortale)/Reader, Papyrus (Underswap)/Reader, Papyrus (Undertale)/Reader, Papyrus (underfell)/reader, Sans (Horrortale)/Reader, Sans (Underfell)/Reader, Sans (Underswap)/Reader, Sans (Undertale)/Reader
Comments: 84
Kudos: 239





	1. Eviction notice and meeting Sans

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Skeleton Squatters and the Landlady](https://archiveofourown.org/works/9816140) by [Tyrant_Tortoise](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tyrant_Tortoise/pseuds/Tyrant_Tortoise). 



> I havent done any writing on ao3 before... I can only hope this turns out well! Im a bit late on the undertale reverse harem thing, but i hope someone still enjoys these! I plan to update at least once a month, but the goal is once a week or two.

The bell above the door to the coffee shop dinged softy, announcing the arrival of your best friend.

You already had the tea he liked ordered and waiting for him. You took a sip of the coffee and smiled. The lanky skeleton sauntered in, his red scarf billowing behind him. You idly wondered how it did that without any wind. You chalked it up to magic though. 

His eyes locked onto yours and his smiled widened. He bolted over and slid into the other side of the booth. You grinned right back at the over enthusiastic skeleton.

“Morning pap! How’ve you been?” You questioned, your voice cheery.

“AWESOME! IM SORRY WE HAVENT MET UP LATELY… A FEW OF ME AND MY BROTHERS... COUSINS… HAVE COME TO STAY FOR A WHILE, MORE THAT THE NORMAL FEW. ITS BEEN… Hectic…” he trailed off at the end, and was toying with his scarf worriedly. You placed a reassuring hand on his gloved one and smiled wider.

“It’s no problem papaya! I have missed you though. Is everything okay? You seem… stressed.” His eyes become down turned. 

“When I Say Hectic… I Mean It. I’ve Become Very… Tired.” He states, the cheeriness having disappeared from his voice.

“Look at me paps.” He does, meeting your eyes with his own. They look a little teary. “That’s why we meet up! We should totally do something fun today to get your mind off of all that!” You tap a finger to your chin and pretend to think very hard about something.

“Oh would you look at that…” you hum, pulling your car keys out. “I just happen to have bought all the supplies needed to make spaghetti and they’re all waiting back home on the counter! Now if only I had someone to help me cook some amazing spaghetti?” You let your face become sad. “Too bad… if only my best friend papyrus was here….” You look up and meet papyrus’s happy eyes. “Oh my stars! Papyrus! Do you happen to have any plans today?” You ask, a joyous grin breaking through your act. He’s always been one for theatrics.

He places a hand to his chest. “Why No Best Friend! I Have No Plans! Although I Was Hoping To Make Some Spaghetti Today...” he trails off and you take the bait. 

“Well do I have news for you!” you both break off into laughter, not being able to hold back giggles any more. He wipes a tear from his eye and stands. He offers you a hand and you take it and stand too.

“LETS GO THEN! NO TIME TO WASTE!” You and him walk out to your car and you start the drive home.

He always was passionate about whatever he did. His presence was a warm comfort, and you loved having him as a friend. It made you wonder how anyone could ever hate him. 

You remember how you met all those years ago. Back when the monsters had only been on the surface for a half a year or so and tensions were high…

Flashback.

You had just gotten off from your shift at the cafe and was on your way home.

It was a short walk, so you had decided to walk today. You were on high alert, mostly because it was dark and you walked by many alleyways. You knew how to navigate them, having had taught yourself in case in an emergency, but didn’t want to. 

Especially at night. 

Then you heard raised voices from a nearby alley. You almost walked right past.

It wasn’t your problem, and there was no need for you to interfere. But then you heard another voice. 

“NOW NOW HUMANS. IM SURE YOU ARE UPSET… At What I Do Not Know… BUT WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS!” You stopped when you heard the word human. That implied the speaker wasn’t human. 

You gritted your teeth.

It didn’t concern you… but… you really hated racists. Curse your stupid need to be kind to everyone! 

You whirled around and went to the opening of the alley.

A group of boys had a tall monster backed up to the side of the alley. At least two of them were brandishing knives.

It pissed you off.

“Hey fellas! Just what the hell do you think you're doing?!” You called, anger written plainly across your features. Everyone turned to look at you, glaring. 

“This doesn’t concern you. Get out of here bitch.” Your shoulder twitched, and you really wished you had your bat with you. It’s fine, they can insult you all they want.

“While it may not concern me, I do not appreciate racism.” You crossed your arms in front of you and leveled a killing glare right back at what seemed to be the leader of the group. 

He barely flinched, just smiled wider and stepped closer. “Yea? And what’re you gonna do about it?” He questioned. 

You frowned. “I’m glad you asked buddy.” With that, you darted forward and swept his legs out from under him. He fell to the ground with an ‘oof.’ The other boys turned and charged towards me. The leader stood back up and came towards you again, holding his knife in front of him. 

“You’ll regret that bitch!” Poor kid didn't know any other curse words did he? How sad, If he wanted to insult someone he was doing a bad job. You fixed an unconcerned look on your face whilst dodging another boy's fist. He had thrown himself forward and missed, thumping to the ground. You kicked him in the ribs and he stayed down.

One down, three to go. The leader came forward with the knife and you sidestepped easily, grabbing the back of his jacket as he passed you. You pulled him back wards and punched him in the face, a sickening crack ringing out in the alley way. He fell, clutching his nose with a shriek of agony. 

You turned towards the monster. It was a mistake, and you forgot about the other two boys. That was, until you saw the panic in the tall creatures sockets.

You whirled around just in time for a knife to plunge into your arm. Your turn caused the knife to drag down the length of your arm and get stuck there. You hissed, but made no other noise. 

They didn’t deserve the satisfaction. 

Then you kicked the guy that dared stab you in the balls. He too fell to the ground, whimpering in pain. The last kid just looked between you and all of his fallen comrades and ran. You finally turned back to the monster and started to speak. You saw the leader on the ground make a move to stand and grabbed the monsters arm. Then you bolted down the alley, taking turns and twists in the hope that you would loose anyone behind you. 

You tried to speak up again. You didn’t even get a single word out before he grabbed you.

“OHMYGOSH YOURE HURT!!! THERES A KNIFE IN YOUR ARM!!” He looked crazy panicked.

You weakly chuckled. “Yea… oops. That’s starting to hurt…” your vision became tinged in black. “I’m losing a lot of blood I think. Time to go home…” you pulled away from him and staggered toward the mouth of the alley, before almost immediately falling.

You register large hands catching you just before you hit the ground. “WHERE DO YOU LIVE?! ILL TAKE YOU HOME!” The monster holding you spoke, and the volume of his voice made your ears ring. You slurred out an address and blacked out. 

...

You woke up later, the wound wrapped tightly. 

All the events came back to you and you went in search of the monster. You found him standing in your kitchen, looking in your pantry. 

“AH! HUMAN! YOUR AWAKE! I WAS JUST WONDERING WHAT YOU WOULD WANT FOR BREAKFAST!” His loud voice jolted you into a little more alertness. You couldn’t help but be shocked he was a skeleton, then kicked yourself for not noticing that any earlier. 

After you got over the initial shock of a skeleton in your kitchen, you two became fast friends. 

Needless to say, you were glad to not have driven home that day.

-Flashback over.-

You get to the house around 4:00. 

This will give you plenty of time to cook and have food in time for dinner! Maybe you could convince paps to have a sleepover or something! He dashed to the kitchen and you two get started.

He’s gotten a lot better at cooking with your help and constructive criticism. 

You remember the first time you ate his food. He called it friendship spaghetti… a shudder runs down your spine, drawing paps attention. 

“YOU OKAY?” He asks. You nod and smile before checking on the sauce he was making. He lifts the spoon up and you lean forward, licking some of the sauce off. 

You don’t see his light orange blush.

“That tastes delicious! It’s perfect.” You chirp happily. He rubs the back of his skull nervously. 

“THANK YOU!” He takes a heroic pose. “ANYTHING THE GREAT PAPYRUS DOES IS ALWAYS PERFECT! NYEH HEH HEH!” He laughs. 

You giggle too. He deflates a bit, his expression getting a bit unhappy. “My Brother And Our Cousins Still Won't Try Any Of My Food… BUT IM SURE IT TASTES GOOD! IVE BEEN TRYING ALL SORTS OF FOODS!” He’s back to normal. 

You put a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sure your food is lovely! They don’t know what they’re missing out on!” You say cheerfully. He Nyehs and starts mixing the pasta and sauce while you clean up the mess in the kitchen. 

Your apartment is small, but you make it work. Pap hums a tune while finishing up the food.

“Hey paps! I’ll be right back.” You say, turning the corner to your room. He responds by waving and continuing his work. You open the door to your room, stepping over piles of papers and trash.

It had been really hard lately, just trying to keep up with everything. Paps had been a bit of a light in your life, and you’re entirely sure that without him you might not be here. He helped you get on the right meds and was there to work with you through your breakdowns. 

All in all, he was an angel, and your best friend. You do wish you could meet his brother. You’ve heard so many… interesting... stories about him

Some pretty perfect blackmail material… not that you’d ever need it, no. You would never use information against someone in order to coerce them into doing what you wanted… wink. All in all, you almost forgot the reason you were here. It’s time to take your meds. 

Not too bad, just one antidepressant. You would take the pills that help with your sleeping issues and night terrors before bed, and you only took the anxiety medication when you needed to. You popped a cheerful smile on your face and left to go back to paps. 

The smile was wiped off of your face when you saw his sad eyes.

“Oh paps… what’s wr-“ then you saw the slip of paper he was looking at. 

That damned yellow slip. 

That damn eviction notice. 

You must have accidentally left it out. Papyrus lifted his head to meet your eyes. 

“(Y/N)... why didn’t you tell me?” He speaks softly, even quieter than his inside voice. 

You stutter and stammer incoherent words before sighing and sliding into a chair at the table and resting your head on your arms. He slides into the chair directly across from you, just like every other time you meet up here. 

He places a hesitant hand on your head while your shoulders shake in silent sobs.

“Hey There Bunny… Don’t Cry Please… Actually, I’ll Be Right Back.” He stands and leaves, returning shortly.

A heavy weight flops over your body and you recognize it to be your weighted blanket.

“Stay Here, I Need To Make A Phone Call.” You hear his footsteps recede and sit up a bit, wrapping the blanket further around yourself before laying your head down again. 

The words you hear are muddled, and your vision fades to black.

-With paps.-

Papyrus pulls out his phone, dialing a rather familiar number.

“Heya bro, waz up?” A deep voice answers.

Papyrus straightens up. “I THINK I HAVE FOUND SOMEONE FITS FOR THE POSITION OF GARDENER AND HOUSEKEEPER. I'LL BRING HER AROUND TOMORROW TO MEET YOU AND WHOEVERS HOME.” A chuckle sounds from the other end of the line.

“Sounds good bro. You got this, you are the great papyrus.” Papyrus Nyehs in an upbeat tone, right before hanging up the phone. 

When he goes to check up on his human friend, he finds her to be fast asleep. Shaking his head, he grins and picks her up. Then he carries her to the couch, where he sets up a little blanket pile like they do on sleepover nights.

He sets her down and the little human curls into the blankets and pillows. Papyrus laughs and pretends that wasn’t the cutest thing ever before laying down as well. Sleep follows right after. 

-A day or two later-

To say you were nervous would be a huge understatement. 

You were practically petrified. 

Papyrus laid a comforting hand on your shoulder and shot you a smile, but even he looked a little worried. You cleared your throat and knocked on the door of the large, mansion-like house. You assumed it was that big because it housed 6 skeletons.

You’d been told that a few more live on the extensive property, and that you should steer clear. Pap didn’t answer any more questions after that. 

The door swung open and you were greeted by a short skeleton. His face was a little more round than paps, and he slouched with a lazy smile in his face. His blue jacket looked worn, and his pink fluffy slippers were just a little matted.

“Hey. I’m sans, sans the skeleton. You must be that kiddo paps found for the job.” The lazy look never left his face. “Come on in, we can give you an interview.” He said, turning and waving a hand towards the inside of the house. 

You nodded and tried to quell your nervous tics, shoving your hands in separate pockets so you didn’t start tapping your fingers. 

The entry hallway was elegant, but also simple. There was a chandelier hung from the high ceilings, with a staircase wrapped around leading to another floor. You looked a little higher to find there were actually two more floors, making a total of 3 floors in this house. There wasn’t anything on the walls and the floors were hardwood. It looked old. 

Papyrus chuckled at your expression.

“That’s such a cool chandelier! I adore shiny glass things!” You chirped.

Pap laughed again. “I KNOW! I WAS WONDERING WHAT YOU WOULD THINK OF THE CHANDELIER. YOU TEND TO COLLECT PRETTY THINGS.” You blush a bit out of embarrassment. 

“Yea… I have an entire rock collection. Have I shown you?” Papyrus thought for a moment, holding a hand under his chin. 

“NO, I DONT THINK YOU HAVE…” you gasp. 

“Ohmahgosh! Remind me to show you! You would love it!” You gush, all nervousness having had dissipated. 

“Hey! What’s the hold up?” Sans’s deep voice called from the next room over. 

You squeaked out a sorry and let papyrus guide you to the living room. Sans was sitting on the couch. His posture was relaxed, but you were good at analyzing people. You picked up on the tenseness in his eyes, the tight edge to his smile, and the way his fingers twitched occasionally. He was.. wary? 

He waved at a chair and you sat. “Alright paps, you can head out. It’s time for the interview.”

Your leg started to bounce in place as papyrus left the room, shooting you an encouraging smile before sweeping away. You turned your attention to sans again.

He sat forward, not looking as relaxed anymore. “What’s your name kiddo?” He asked.

“(Y-Y/N)” you cursed your stutter internally and focused on him. He just nodded contemplatingly.

“Alright, (Y/N),” he said your name with thinly veiled venom, and it made you flinch a bit. You hid it well though. “How long have you known my brother?” His eyes bore into yours. 

“U-um… almost 4 years.” You answered, seeing the flash of skepticism and shock on his face.

“How’d you meet?” The question was asked with nonchalance, but had a dangerous undertone.

“It’s a long story… pap probably already told you.” Your leg is still bouncing, helping only slightly with your anxiety. You really should have taken some of your medicine, but you couldn’t do it now. How odd would it look to be popping pills in front of your new potential employer?

“He hasn’t. I haven’t heard of you too much.” Oh. 

“W-well, I was getting off of work when I heard him talking from an alleyway. I peeked in and saw some jerks had him surrounded.” 

You hadn’t meant to say jerks, but just remembering the event fired you up a bit.

“One or two of the boys had knives, and they seemed anti monster. I intervened and fought off the boys. One of them stabbed me though, and I grabbed papyrus and ran. I passed out from blood loss just after giving him my address.” You were so focused on telling the story that you failed to notice the warm smile that had fallen over your face. “Something about paps made me want to trust him, ya know?” 

Sans nodded. 

“He healed me a bit and we traded phone numbers. We’ve been friends ever since! I still have the scar from that knife though…” you snapped out of it when you heard sans talk again.

“Can I see?” 

It startled you a bit. “The scar? You sure? It’s not pretty.” He nods and you shrug. 

You unzip your jacket, shrugging it off of your shoulder just enough that your upper arm was exposed. You weren’t comfortable showing your lower arms just yet, you only met him today. 

You lifted up your short sleeve to show the full extent of the jagged mark.

It started and inch down from your shoulder, and dragged on to one or two inches above your elbow. 

He whistled lowly. “Bet that hurt like hell.” Was all he said. You nodded and pulled your jacket back up, zipping it up again.

“Sure did. I’m lucky papyrus is fast, or else I might not be alive.” 

Sans nods thoughtfully. 

“Alright. You're hired.”

That statement shocked you so much you stumbled on words for a minute. “J-just like that?! No checking my qualifications?! Really?!” You barked in a shocked voice. He nods and that lazy grin is back. 

“I trust my bro. If he says you’re qualified, I believe him.” 

You stand excitedly. “Thank you so much!!” You have to resist the urge to hug him. 

“I’ve got to go tell papaya! He’ll be so proud!” You squeal, darting out to the hallway.

\-----

Sans didn’t expect you to just bolt after hearing the news. Heck, he hadn’t even gotten to give you the BAD TIME talk. He didn’t even get a chance to sneakily check you! He shot a look over to the tall, orange hoodie clad skeleton in the corner. 

The other skeleton just shrugged, twirling the lollipop stick in between his teeth.

\-----

Papyrus is standing in the hall with an overjoyed smile on his face.

“YOU GOT THE JOB!! IM SO HAPPY! WE’RE PRACTICALLY ROOMMATES NOW!” That had you confused. 

“What do you mean? All you told me was that your place needed a housekeeper/gardener and y’all were willing to pay.” His eyes got sparkles in them.

“I DIDNT TELL YOU?!” If you weren’t used to his voice, that would’ve broken your ears. “ITS A LIVE IN DEAL! YOU WILL HAVE A ROOM HERE!” 

You are stunned into silence. Hot tears start to drip from your eyes, and you sniffle while trying to wipe them away. 

Paps voice gets sad and he hugs you. “I-IM SORRY… I DIDN'T MEAN TO MAKE YOU SAD…” 

oh no.

You couldn’t let him think he’d hurt your feelings!!

“I-I’m not s-sad papaya… I’m actually really- really happy!” You hiccup out. “This is s-so nice of you to do thi-his for me…” you choke off a sob and bury your head in his soft, red scarf. 

He rubs your back comfortingly. “Please Don’t Cry Bunny… Now We CAN HAVE SLEEPOVERS ALL THE TIME!!” His voice grows in volume towards the end and you smile cheerfully, pulling back from his embrace.

“Heck yea new roommate!!” You strike a pose alongside him, and his scarf does that thing where it flows behind him. 

Your cheeks are still wet with tears and you struggle to stop them. Papyrus grabs your hand and pulls you to the kitchen, filling up a glass of water and grabbing your anxiety medication from your bag. He hands you the water and a pill and sits across from you at a small table. 

“I Do Want To Warn You Though…” His tone has gotten very serious, so you sit forward more. “Not All Of Our Cousins Are The Nicest. As Our New Housekeeper, You’d Be Cleaning And Cooking, Meaning You’d Have Regular Interactions With The Members Of This Household.” You nod and he continues. “BUT DONT WORRY ABOUT THAT JUST YET!! LETS GO SHOW YOU YOUR ROOM!!” He says happily, jumping up from his seat.

You are once again swept to a different room. “YOULL BE STAYING IN THE ATTIC! FOLLOW ME!” He takes you to the second floor. There are at least 8 doors on this floor.

“THESE ARE OUR ROOMS AND SOME GUEST ROOMS FOR WHEN OTHER COUSINS VISIT! SOME COUSINS PREFER TO LIVE IN THE WOODS BEHIND THE HOUSE, BUT WE HAVE ROOM SET UP IN CASE THEY CHANGE THEIR MINDS!” You nod along, struggling to keep up with his long stride. 

You go to the third floor. “THIS IS WHERE THERE ARE GAME ROOMS! The whole floors pretty wide open, and consists of two large game rooms stacked with consoles and games, two bathrooms, and two rooms. He leads you off to a hallway that leads to stairs.

“YOURE ROOM WILL BE UP HERE!” He says, practically buzzing with excitement as he leads you to the door at the top. 

Then he flings open the door and waves a hand as if to showcase the entirety of the room. 

Your jaw drops. 

The room is as big as your entire apartment! There’s a sizable closet and one wall sports a big window with a ledge for sitting. Under the window there’s a comfy looking bed. It’s dusty and there are quite a few boxes scattered about, leading you to believe this used to be storage. 

The tears are back and you all but tackle papyrus in a hug.

“T-his is so nice! You’re re-really letting me stay h-ere?” 

He nods. “I’m Sorry It’s So Messy!” You step back and flail your arms a bit.

“No no no! This is awesome! Papyrus this room is huge! This- this is a blessing! Oh papyrus you really are an angel!” You say before hugging him again, hiding your face in his chestplate.

He didn’t wear that all the time, only when he planned to go somewhere.

With your face hidden, you didn’t see the orange blush that dusted his cheekbones. 

He laughed and hugged you back. “I’M GLAD YOU THINK SO!!”

You run over to the bed and hop on top, peeking out the window to the back. 

Your jaw dropped again. 

There was a massive greenhouse out back, but you couldn’t really see inside due to the vines on the inside covering the walls. Papyrus looked over your shoulder to see what you were looking at and laughed again.

“THATS THE GREENHOUSE! THATS PART OF THE REASON WE WERE LOOKING FOR A GARDENER. AND IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY, YOU WENT TO SCHOOL FOR A DEGREE TO BECOME A BOTANIST!” 

You chuckled nervously, scratching the back of your neck. “Yea… to bad I had to drop out. Lack of funds you know?” Pap nods understandingly. You're attention was drawn back to the greenhouse. “Papaya can we please go look in the green house?” You pleaded with big eyes.

He nods happily and darts down the stairs, leaving you to scramble after him.

You chase him downstairs and out the back door, making it somewhat a race.

Sans was startled from what looked like a nap by your chase and stood to follow. 

You and papyrus stood outside the greenhouse, an awed look on your face. 

“You found the greenhouse I see? How’s about we go inside?” Sans spoke up, startling you a bit. 

You nod vigorously and pap opens the door. You step inside and freeze.

It’s… it’s beautiful. 

The ground is dirt and covered in flowers of all types. Of course there are plenty of weeds and some plants that looked invasive at first glance. A few foldable table were scattered about with potted plants on them, most overgrown or dead. Ivy vines and other vines crawled up the glass walls and ceiling, competing for the sunlight that filtered down in patches. The vines would need to be trimmed down to allow other plants sunlight, but other than that they could stay. 

In the middle of the greenhouse was a large willow tree. 

It was massive, and looked so old. Like it’d been there for ages. 

You couldn’t help but wonder what that tree had seen in its long life, and what more it would be witness to. You feel somewhat... lucky... to be in its presence, as if seeing such a magnificent tree was a once in a lifetime thing.

The glass in some areas was cracked and some panes look to have fallen out. It’s was quiet except for the chirp of birds, various bugs, and the occasional croak of a frog. You carefully stepped forward, your feet crunching on the grass. 

You made your way slowly to the willow tree. 

You reached out and placed a single hand against the rough bark of the tree. You could feel the life under the bark. This whole place radiated the feeling of just being alive. Something felt as though it was settling into a happy place inside your chest and you stepped back. You turned around to face papyrus with stars in your eyes.

“This place is incredible.” You breathed, as if speaking too loud would break or shatter some untold rule.

Papyrus nodded, and sans behind was looking at you with a look mixed between wary and surprised. At what? You don't know. 

He cleared his throat. “So, uh, what do you plan to do with the place?” You perked up. 

“Well I need to clear away all the weeds, get more seeds to plant, organize where everything is and what everything is, clear away some of the vines so other plants get sunlight, probably hook up some sort of irrigation system, and take care of the invasive plant species you have here.” You finished off with a smile. “It’ll be hard work but it’ll be worth it in the end. Especially if this place can be returned to its former glory.” 

You turn to the willow tree again. “This tree… I don’t know how to explain what I feel…”

You shake your head like a dog clearing the water from its ears, sheepishly turning back to sans and papyrus.

“Sorry, I must sound sorta crazy.” You give a nervous chuckle. Papyrus shakes his head too. “Nonsense. I’m Glad You Like This Place. It’s Time We Go Retrieve Your Items From Your House.” You grin and follow him as he leaves the greenhouse, leaving sans standing in the plants alone. 

\-----

What sans saw of your soul… it might be good to talk to the other judges about this. 

He gives the big tree one last glance before turning heel and teleporting out.


	2. Meeting Others

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im pasting all this straight from my google docs! I only put out the first chapter today and already people have seen it! Thanks for the support! enjoy this, Its time to meet some skeles.  
> \-----

There wasn’t much for you and papyrus to get from your house.

You had only allowed yourself a few precious possessions, not wanting to waste money when rent was due.

It wasnt a surprise you were getting evicted, rent had just kept going up and up until you couldnt pay it. You had thought you had more time, but it didnt matter now. 

You and papyrus moved through the house as a synchronized team, and it wasn’t hard to get everything you needed. You packed the stuff and Papyrus loaded into the car. 

You handled the clothes, grabbing as much as you could fit into a backpack. One backpack held all of your clothes, so that was a good thing. Or a bad thing depending on how you looked at it. Another backpack was filled with your old drawing tablet, even older computer, some movies and photos you liked, your sketchbook, and your decade old 3ds. The last backpack had some of your gardening tools, a few plushies, and a blanket you liked. There was nothing else worth keeping except your baseball bat, a few plants, and your guitar, but those wouldnt fit in a backpack. 

You and papyrus carefully situated the plants, backpacks, and bat in the backseat of his car, keeping the top on so that nothing blew out.

Papyrus kept chattering excitedly about your room and that sans said he could help you paint it. Maybe once you got paid you could even pick up some fairy lights. You loved those as a kid. 

Once you arrived back at the house, papyrus started to help you get your things before being stopped by another skeleton. 

He looked just like papyrus, just lazy. He wore a bright orange hoodie and had a lollipop in his mouth that he rolled about idly. 

“Hey papyrus.” He greeted pap then turned to you. “And you must be (Y/N). nice ta meet ya. Im Stretch, and ill be helping you move your things.” 

You smiled warmly. “Well then! Thank you Mr. Stretch! There isnt much to get, but we’ll appreciate the help!” you chirped before turning back to paps car. 

You grabbed the bat and two of the bigger plants while stretch grabbed the three backpacks and papyrus grabbed the last two plants and your guitar case. Then, your little parade marched upstairs and set everything down. You dusted off your hands and turned to the two skeletons with a cheery smile.

“Thanks for the help!” You said in a cheery tone. Although you looked happy, there was something about Stretch that put you on edge. It felt like he was analyzing you, and it made your skin crawl. Papyrus nyeh’ed and sat to help you unpack.

You expected stretch to leave but he hung around, just standing by the wall. 

“You can help if youd like?” you offered hesitantly. He nodded and smiled lightly before sitting next to Papyrus.

Pap grabbed the bag with your gardening tools and soft things while stretch picked up the one with your art and photos stuff. 

You snatched the one with your clothes and just tossed it in the closet to deal with later. You rolled the bat under the bed and set up the plants in places they would get good sunlight. Then you sat in front of stretch and papyrus and put away whatever they pulled out. All the gardening tool stayed in the bag and the blanket and plushies went on the bed. Your drawing tablet and computer were put on the side table you didnt notice before now and your old 3ds went on the charger. 

Stretch was looking at your photos a little longer than you liked but you chalked it up to curiosity. 

Your sketchbook went on top of the computer and the movies just stayed in the bag. You picked up your guitar case and opened it to check for any damage. 

Stretch looked curious. “You play?” 

You nodded with a smile. “Yup! i’ve been playing since i was real little. Wanna hear something?” He and pap nodded eagerly. 

You carefully pulled the worn guitar out and strummed a chord. It seemed well tuned, so you continued to play.

It was just a little tune, something you came up with on the go. No real rhyme or reason to it, except papyrus and stretch seemed enraptured. You held back a grin and brought the little tune to an end, letting the sound fade away to silence, before shifting the guitar to the ground in front of you.

Papyrus began to enthusiastically clap, bringing a bright embarrassed blush to your cheek. 

“A-ah thanks…” you trailed off, hiding your face in your hands.

Stretch chuckled quietly. “You're pretty good at that. Maybe i could get you to play again sometime.” 

You nodded and lifted you face up to meet his eyes. “Sure! I love to play.” 

You heard footsteps outside the door, presumably leading up the stairs, and tensed slightly before relaxing as you realized they were probably not a threat. It was just instinct to pick up on little noises and react to them. You dont think stretch or papyrus noticed, thankfully. 

The door creaked open you you were greeted by the sight of a short skeleton. They looked like sans, just a little smaller. His eyelights were happy stars and he was wearing a bright blue bandana around his neck. They also had a light blue jacket on that was unzipped to show the gray shirt underneath. He had on a pair of jeans and some sweet looking boots too. 

“WAS THAT YOU PLAYING THE GUITAR?! THAT WAS SO COOL!!” He grinned widely.

He reminded you of papyrus in a way.

“U-uh yea. That was me. Im glad you thought it was cool.” You spoke up. He darted inside and sat close to you. 

“YOU MUST BE (Y/N)!! ITS NICE TO MEET YOU! PAPYRUS TOLD ME ALL ABOUT YOU!” You chuckled softly.

“Its nice to meet you too! Whats your name?” You asked. 

He gasped in shock. “I DIDN’T TELL YOU MY NAME?! WHERE ARE MY MANNERS?! I'M BLUEBERRY! BUT I'D APPRECIATE IT IF YOU CALLED ME BLUE!” His smile was so wide, and his eyes were still literal stars.

“Cool! That’s a neat name!” Stretch was relaxed, but his smile looked strained. 

“THIS IS MY BROTHER, STRETCH! I GUESS YOU ALREADY MET HIM THOUGH.” Blues eyelights switched from stars to round blue orbs again.

“I did! He helped me bring my stuff upstairs.” you thought for a moment. “Do you know what time it is?” stretch checked his wrist, and you saw there was no watch there.

“Looks like its 5:32.” You double check the screen of your phone to find he was right. 

You jolted to your feet. “I’m supposed to cook you guys dinner! Come on papyrus! You gotta teach me how your kitchen works!” You all but shouted before bolting downstairs with papyrus hot on your heels. Blue grinned happily and gave chase after papyrus, overjoyed at the fact there was someone new in the house. Stretch just sighed and followed his brother at a slower pace. 

Papyrus gave you a quick rundown of the kitchen and what everything was.

“For Cooking, Anything In The Fridge And Pantry Is Free Game Unless It Has A Sticky Note On It!” Blue chimed in from the counter he sat by. 

You nodded and started making a list of materials. It looked like you had just enough stuff to whip up green beans, mac-n-cheese, and breaded chicken. You got to work immediately, just after setting up your phone to play some music.

You put on a playlist papyrus liked and grabbed the ingredients. You preheated the oven and breaded the chicken before setting it in there to cook. Then you put the green beans in a small pot with some water and set the burner on low. Finally, you boiled the water and made the mac--cheese, occasionally stirring the green beans.

While you worked, you, blue, and papyrus sang to some of the songs that played. It was all fun, and some good bonding time for you and blue.

Finally, all of the food was done, and it was only 6:46. You carried all the dishes of food to the table in the kitchen. This table only had 8 seats, but the table in the formal dining room had over 20. 

You guessed the dining room was only used when guests came over. By this time, stretch had migrated to the kitchen and was sitting next to his brother at the table. You set the food down and smiled proudly.

Sans walked in next, yawning tiredly. 

Until he saw the food on the table.

“Whoa, you made all this?” He spoke up, sliding next to papyrus. 

You nodded happily. “You only really had stuff for spaghetti, tacos, or lasagna, but papyrus says that primarily what is made for food. I thought itd be good fro something different. I hope you like it!” You chirped happily before sliding into a seat on papyrus’s other side.

The guys at the table loaded up their plates and you all dug in, you being the only one to hesitate. 

“Uhm… i don’t mean to be rude, but arent there more people living here? I had grabbed enough plates for 7 people. Should I set some food aside?” 

You spoke worriedly. You didn’t want anyone going hungry.

Sans shrugged. “One of them’s out for work and won’t be back for another two days, and the other will probably come down in a little bit.” 

You nodded and ate. The table was filled with happy chatter as you all ate. 

“THIS IS REALLY TASTY!!” Blue complemented. Stretch nodded in agreement with his mouth full of food. 

You blushed and smiled at the complements. “Thank you. My dad was a good teacher when it came to cooking. I learned a lot of good tips and tricks. I taught most of them to papyrus when we cooked together.” 

Papyrus nodded. “(Y/N) IS THE REASON MY SPAGHETTI IS ACTUALLY EDIBLE NOW!” He spoke up with an air of pride in his voice.

The rest of dinner continued smoothly. 

You took all of the dishes and started to wash them, leaving out a plate with some food on it and packing up the leftovers away in the fridge. You also started washing the dishes in the sink so there wasn’t a pile of them anymore. 

It was almost 8:00, and papyrus, blue, and stretch were going to bed. You wished them goodnight and hugged paps and blue before waving them off to bed.

Then you finished the dishes and moved on to cleaning up the counters and figuring out what to make for breakfast the next morning. You were taking stock of the pancake mix in the pantry when you heard approaching footsteps.

You whirled around out of instinct and was met with the face of a sleepy unknown skeleton in the doorway. There were bags under his sockets and his right eye socket was chipped towards the bottom. He was clad in a red turtleneck and some black shorts with yellow stripes down the sides. He had a black jacket on top with a gold zipper and a fluffy hood. One of his teeth looked gold. 

You tried to calm your racing heartbeat at the little scare you received and waved a hello. He muttered a gruff noise you didnt catch and sat at the table, laying his skull on his arms.

Geez did he look exhausted.

“Are you hungry? I didnt see you down here eating with the others. I saved you a plate and i can heat it up if you like?” You kept your voice soft. 

He nodded once and slumped into the table more. You picked up the plate and microwaved it. While it was heating up, you finished looking through the pantry. You could feel his eyes on your back though. 

When the plate was done heating up, you carefully set it in front of his head with a fork. He perked up a bit, solemnly munching away. He had a really edgy look. 

You sat in the chair across from him and offered up the warmest smile you could muster. “You look tired. Can i make you some tea? I find it helps me sleep.” 

He glared at you for a moment before sighing and nodding again. You stood and got to work on the tea. You found that papyrus had some of the stuff you really liked, and decided it would be good enough for the sleep deprived, edgy, sorta menacing skeleton at the table. You finished it up quickly and shot him a look.

You analyzed him for a moment and added some warmed up milk. Then you put the mug down next to him and got back to work.

You started to wipe down the counter because they looked like they hadn’t been cleaned in a bit. 

“This stuffs real’ good.” A gruff voice spoke up from the table.

You turned around and smiled. “The food or the tea?” he motions at the mug in his hand. “Well thank you! I had the feeling you were the kinda guy that liked warm milk in your tea. I used to work at a bar, and before that, a coffee shop. I got really good at figuring out what people would like what drinks.” You spoke, still in a quiet voice, before turning back to wiping down the counter. 

It was quiet for a bit until he spoke up again. “You must be (Y/N). Sans told me about ya’. Seems like your gonna be sticking around for a bit.” 

You nod. “I sure hope so. This job is the only thing keeping me off the streets right now.” You chimed. 

Out of the corner of your eye you saw a surprised look flick across his face. “How so?” he asked curiously. 

You shrugged. “Papyrus told me about this just after he found my eviction notice. He’s so cool, you know? Such an angel.” You said, not looking away from the counter you were cleaning.

You heard the chair scrape the time floor as the skeleton stood. “Thanks for the tea and food, I feel tired already.” You turned and flashed him a bright smile. 

“No problem! Try and get some good rest!” you waved as he walked out. He stopped in the doorway though.

“‘Names red.” he grunted before disappearing. 

You let a happy smile rest on your face. “What a sweety.” you mumbled before grabbing his mug and plate and cleaning them up. 

Then you finished up with the counter and quickly wiped down the table. After all that was done, you surveyed the room and yawned tiredly. 

“Time for me to check out.” you murmured, snatching a glass of water and heading to your new room. 

You shut the door and changed into some comfy pj’s before taking those meds for your nightmares. 

You quickly set an alarm for 5:20 in the morning so you would wake up in time to make breakfast for papyrus. He woke up around 6:00 or 6:30 most days. 

You shut off the lights and curled into the blankets on the bed, snuggling your plush of a wolf close. You fell asleep without a hitch, and not a single nightmare visited you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this! I didn't want red to just be some flirty bastard, i want to give him some emotions. Of course he'll still be flirty, i just want to showcase some different sides of him. This was Nathaniel, and i wish for everyone reading to be safe and sound tonight! drink water and sleep well!


	3. A Bad Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry! This is sorta rushed because i haven't had time to get to my computer lately! enjoy tho. TW: panic attack. not too bad though, and not very descriptive. but still stay safe.
> 
> also i got a tumblr! come visit!!
> 
> https://brokenbonesnathan.tumblr.com/
> 
> idk how to do links tho sorry.

The alarm wakes you up early with its insistent buzzing. 

Grumbling to yourself, you hit the off button on your phone and drag yourself off the bed. When was the last time you slept that well? It feels like it’s been a while.

Shaking away your thoughts you stretch out as much as you can. Your muscles ache and you don’t know why.

You throw your hair into a messy bun and root through the backpack of clothes in your closet. You settle on some black sweatpants, a black undershirt, a normal bra, and your favorite hoodie. The hoodie was a lavender color and incredibly soft. After getting dressed, you grabbed your phone and headphones and began the trek to the kitchen. 

You yawned tiredly but nonetheless got to work. First, of course, was getting some good music going. You set the headphones on your head and thanked past you for getting Bluetooth ones. Then you scrolled and settled on a calmer playlist. Calmer meaning it wasn’t heavy rock, this playlist would still help energize you. As the music flowed through your head, you felt motivated.

It was time to really get started, breakfast wouldn’t cook itself. After a good hour of work, there was a plate of eggs, one of bacon, and one of blueberry pancakes. You were currently cooking up two more batches of pancakes, one with chocolate chips and the other plain. You glanced at the clock and found it to be 6:29. 

As if on cue, papyrus entered the kitchen. Blue followed close behind. You gave a cheerful wave and pulled your headphones around your neck. You probably wouldn’t hear them with the headphones on. Those headphones were crazy loud when you wanted them to be.

“GOOD MORNING (Y/N)!!” Blue shouted happily. You chuckled and winced slightly at the volume. 

“Morning blue. Can we try and keep it down? Some of the other skeletons might still be sleeping.” You say before turning to flip the pancakes. When you turn back, blue looked ashamed, and is rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Sorry… I Don’t Have Good Volume Control…” What a sweet dude! 

“Awww don’t worry about it! It’s just that some skeletons are probably sleepy. The one I met last night looked so tired.” You say, a bit lost in thought. You hoped red had gotten some sleep. Poor guy looked like an insomniac, and you knew firsthand how awful that was. 

“Who’d You Meet Last Night?” Papyrus questioned.

“Hmm… he said his name was red. Nice dude, he liked the tea I made for him. Totally made me feel better about my ability to judge people’s drink tastes.” You stated, turning back to plate the pancakes you finished cooking and pour more batter down. You missed the slightly concerned looks that passed between papyrus and blue.

“... He Didn’t.. Try Anything… Did He? Like He Didn’t Hurt You Or Anything Of The Sort?” Blue questioned softly. You were a bit shocked at the veiled accusation. 

“What?! No! He was actually pretty nice. Why?” You wanted to know why they asked that. Blue and papyrus shared a look, but you couldn’t decipher what it meant. Papyrus turned to you. 

“It’s Just That… Red… Has Had A Rough Past That Sometimes Leads Him To Make Bad Decisions Or React To Things Violently.” You thought on that for a moment before turning to flip your pancakes again. 

“Poor guy, i know what that's like. Maybe he just needs a good friend,” You paused for a moment. “And I am more than happy to be that for him. I will be living here for the foreseeable future.” 

You couldn’t help but think of yourself when papyrus had talked about red. After the… incident… you hadn’t recovered easily. You lashed out at everyone, or retreated and became reclusive as a coping mechanism. 

Before blue or papyrus could talk anymore, red himself stepped into the room, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Sans and stretch followed after him. You offered red a cheerful grin and flipped the pancakes a final time before scooping them onto the plate and completing the stacks. 

“Good morning!” you spoke, turning to flash sans and stretch with a smile as well.

“mornin’ kitten.” Red drawled, flopping into a seat at the table and resting his head on the tabletop. You decided to ignore the nickname. 

“You still look tired.” you commented, carrying the plates of pancakes to join the rest of the food at the table.

“yea. i didn’t get much sleep. Kinda an insomniac.” You nodded understandingly.

“You know, me too. I just take medicine for it now. Doesn’t always work, but when it does I'm thankful.” He doesn’t move from his spot but to nod a bit. The other skeletons take seats as well. You don’t notice them watching your exchange with confusion.

“Well dig in y’all. I didn't wake up at 5 in the morning for my food to go to waste.” Everyone but red nods and starts filling up their plates. You look at the half asleep skeleton and frown worriedly. 

Then an idea hits you. 

“You could use a pick me up. Ill make you something to drink. For now, just listen.” He lifts his head just enough to shoot you a confused glance. You smile back and take the headphones from around your neck and place them over his skull. You didn't know if it would work since he didn't have ears, so you settled them where his ears should be. You clicked the button on the side of the headphones that resumed the music, then you swept out of the room to go try and find your phone. 

...

Red sunk further into a pile on the tabletop, looking strangely like he was melting. “Wow, ive never seen you this way. What happened?” Sans looked at him questioningly. Red did not respond. “Red?” Sans looked confused. 

...

You walked back into the kitchen exactly as you heard sans say reds name in a questioning manner. 

“Oh he wont be able to hear you. These headphones are some of the best i own.” Then you set your phone in front of red and tapped his shoulder. He looked at you and pulled the headphones to the side.

You gave him short instructions on how to switch the music and let him pick a playlist. He seemed like a hard rock kind of guy, and your suspicions were confirmed when he selected the playlist called ‘absolute bangers’. You saw the little quirk at the edge of his mouth as he looked through all of your strangely named playlists. He settled down again and you could very faintly hear the sounds of music from where he sat. 

You quickly whipped up a coffee while papyrus and blue chatted, stretch played on his phone, and sans dozed. Sans looked pretty tired too, but he seemed to sleep a lot more if papyrus was right. Papyrus always used to complain about his brothers sleep habits. You set the warm mug of coffee in front of reds face and he gave you a thankful look, but only after he glanced about to make sure no one would see.

You helped yourself to some chocolate chip pancakes and bacon. As you munched happily, you started putting away the ingredients to the food. By the time you finished your plate, the counters were wiped down, the ingredients were put away, and most of the boys had eaten. The only one left was red, who moved incredibly sluggishly. You gathered up all the plates and put them in the sink for later. 

Sans waved goodbye and left for work, papyrus and blue gave you hugs before going for their morning run, and stretch disappeared completely.

Looks like the coffee didn’t do much… 

maybe… 

You turned to red. “Heya buddy, how about you come with me? I'm gonna go start up on some work in the greenhouse and would love some company. Itd be great to get to know you guys better.” He nodded and dragged himself to his feet. It looked like the action took a lot out of him.

You raced upstairs and grabbed the backpack full of gardening tools, quickly changed out of the hoodie and into a simple long sleeved shirt, and raced back down. You think you saw stretch on one of the couches in the gameroom, but you dont know.

You and red walk out to the greenhouse in silence, but its comfortable. When you get inside, you are once again overwhelmed by the absolute beauty of the place. Then you got to work and started weeding the ground. 

Red seemed to have fallen asleep against the trunk of the tree and was dozing peacefully. 

You couldn't help but smile. Your plan had worked perfectly. You had guessed that he might sleep better in the presence of someone else, but he didn't seem comfortable with anyone else. If he was too tired to care where he fell asleep, and it happened to be close to someone, then that seemed like the perfect recipe! You don't know why he seemed so on edge, but you were determined to be friendly to him. 

The greenhouse was the perfect place for a nap, with the limited lighting, soft grass, warmth, and general atmosphere.

You continued the work for almost four hours. Red slept the entire time, too tired to care he was on the ground or that he didnt really know you. After a bit, he startled awake and you took that as a sign it was time to finish up. 

He watched as you put away the tools, then left them on the ground. You were covered in mud. From your feet to your head, you even had some in your hair. This gave you a dilemma.

You couldn't track this through the house and you needed a shower. You swiveled to look at red, who snapped his attention away and tried to look like he hadn’t been watching you.

“Can you grab a towel from inside? And tell me where your water hose is?” His eyebrows went up as he connected the dots. 

“You planin’ on rinsen off with the hose, kitten?” You ignored the pet name and nodded.

“I don't want to track mud in the house.” he nodded and disappeared, shocking you. 

You looked around in panic. He just disappeared?! Where’d he go?! 

Then he was right back, shocking you into yelping in a very undignified way.

He chuckled and you glared. He tossed the towel and it flopped over your head, then he walked out of the greenhouse, waving at you to follow. You scrambled to go after him. He just pointed to the hose and then walked inside. You quickly hosed off and dried off to the best of your abilities before taking a quick shower inside. 

After dressing in fresh clothes, another long sleeved shirt and some more jeans, you went downstairs to start on dinner. It occurred to you that you had entirely missed lunch. Maybe that's why you were so hungry. 

It was just going to be a simple meal, just mashed potatoes, some broccoli, and some meatballs. The door opened and a few minutes later Sans came in.

“Good afternoon sans!” You crowed from in front of the stove where you were checking on the progress of the broccoli. 

Sans nodded. “Afternoon. Hey Y/N, after you find a break, could you come talk to me? Ill be in the downstairs living room.” You nod at him and stir the broccoli before going after him. 

He's sitting on the couch. You take a seat in the chair nearby.

“So? Whats up?” you question. He looks at you, and something in those sockets feels threatening. 

“I just want to inform you of some things. Clear the air. I know youve known papyrus for a long time, and youve earned his trust, but you havent earned mine. Papyrus trusts to easily, and if i find out that your doing any of this for the wrong reasons, being his friend, being here,” 

Hes leaning in a bit, and you find yourself locked in place by his eyes. “ANY of that for the wrong reasons, then you’ll be in for a B A D T I M E.” His voice dropped low and his eyelights went out completely. 

“Got it buddy? Good.” He didnt give you a chance to answer before standing and walking away. 

You just sat there frozen on the chair. Then the shaking started, and with it came the tears. 

You felt so weak in that moment, so helpless. 

You hated feeling helpless. 

During that ‘conversation’, there was just one moment where you were back. Back with him in that house, helpless and weak under his gaze. Just a scared little girl who had no idea what she had gotten herself into.

You stood suddenly and made your way up to your room, not bothering to wipe away the tears because you knew they weren't going to stop any time soon. Good thing you still had an hour or two until everyone else came home. The food you were cooking got pushed to the back of your mind. You thought you saw a flash of something orange as you walked past the gameroom to get to your stairs, but your mind was to muddled to register it. All you knew was you needed to get somewhere safe, somewhere for you.

You made it to your room safely and shut the door before collapsing on the floor by your bed. You pulled your knees to your chest, curling into yourself as much as you could. Your sobs got worse by tenfold, until your body was heaving with the force of your crying. Your head hurt. 

After a while, all the tears dried up, and you were left vacantly staring at the wall across from you, no thoughts running through your head. This might have lasted an hour, it might have been a minute. The passage of time meant nothing to your empty brain.

Finally, it was over and you could think and breath normally again. 

You stood and wiped you face before pulling on your old gray hoodie. It was torn in places and just generally worn. You rustled through the covers on you bed until you found what you needed. A small frog plush. You picked up the little frog, named Cowboy Dude or C.D for short, and set him in the hood of the jacket.

Then you marched downstairs, keeping your head on a swivel to look out for sans. You think seeing him right now might trigger more tears and wanted to avoid him all together. You sighed a relieved breath after making it to the kitchen with no sigh of him.

You stared sadly at the small pot of broccoli on the stop, most of it burnt to the bottom. With another heavy sigh, you took it outside, and to the little pond you had noticed behind the greenhouse.

You grumbled and sat at the edge of the water. The ducks nearby looked at you curiously, squawking occasionally. 

“I hate wasting food, but it wont get wasted if i feed it to someone else, right? So ducks, fish, and assorted turtles! Todays your lucky day! I have brought you mostly burnt broccoli! I hope you enjoy my cooking.” Talking to them made you feel slightly better. 

You scooped out some of it into the water, watching a big fish come up and snap it out of the water. You scooped out some more into the water, watching the big fish gather and eat it up. 

You also noticed a little turtle trying to get close, but some of the bigger fish kept pushing him away.

“Let the little guys get some, won't you?” you muttered, placing some on the ground next to you.

The little turtle saw it and swam closer, coming out of the water just enough to snap it up. You placed a little more in front of him, then shelled out the rest to the fish. They ate it happily. 

“Good, stay healthy. Maybe ill bring more, hopefully not as burnt next time.” 

You stood to go, not noticing the single, glowing red eye peeking out curiously from in between the trees as you retreated.

...

You made it inside and threw yourself into cooking again. By the time the meal was done, papyrus and blue had just gotten back from work. Blue was a police officer, you think so at least, and papyrus volunteered at the fire department. He was tall enough that getting kittens out of trees was no big deal for him, and he loved the attention.

He shot you a concerned look at the hoodie and frog, but seemed hesitant to talk to you with blue still in the room. That was considerate of him.

Stretch stepped into the kitchen to greet his bro and you waved halfheartedly. He waved but looked over at papyrus.

They had a silent conversation with their eyes and stretch nodded before turning to blue. “Hey bro, can you come help me with something? It won’t take long.” Blue nods excitedly and skips after stretch.

Papyrus gives stretch a thankful look and stretch nods before disappearing out the door. Papyrus then makes his way to you. He takes one of your hands in his own and clutches it tightly.

It's almost enough to make you start crying again.

“What happened?” he asks, his voice soft. 

“I-i- something happened- and and then- i was right back- back there and i- i just…” You trailed off, your voice rising in pitch towards the end as you tried to hold back another wave of tears. 

Papyrus pulls you close and hugs you tight. “Oh Bunny, I'm Sorry.” He pulls back, still holding onto your hand. “How About You Go Wrap Up In A Blanket And Find A Good Movie On Your Laptop? I'll Serve Dinner And Then Bring You A Plate And We Can Stay Up And Watch Tv.” You sniffle and nod resolutely.

You would show sans. He can't just intimidate you into not hanging around papyrus. Although you did hope to never have to be in the same room as him alone ever again. You turn and head upstairs, passing by blue on the way. 

He stopped and gasped. “Y/N! YOU'RE- You’re Crying!? What Happened?!” He seemed panicked, and you waved your hands about dismissively. 

“Nothing really, just tired. I'm heading upstairs to rest, but papyrus is helping serve the food so don't worry.” You gave him what you hope was a reassuring smile. Blue nodded and shot you a dazzling smile.

“Feel Better Soon!” He then darted off. 

You made your way to your bedroom, bundling up in blankets and situating yourself so your legs were under your bed and your top half came out from under it. You settled on a classic and waited for Papyrus to get back. 

Meanwhile with Papyrus

He went about making everyone plates and setting the table. 

The food was still warm and the others filtered in.

Red looked the most well rested he had since edge left for that trip, stretch looked tired, but he always was, blue looked worried, and sans looked bored

. Papyrus set their plates in front of them and then grabbed his and yours.

“Where’s Y/N?” Red asked gruffly. 

“She Was Crying When I Saw Her, But She Said She Was Going To Go Get Some Rest So I Left Her.” Blue chimed in, still looking worried. Red suddenly looked alarmed and jumped from his seat. 

“Is she okay? What happened and who do i need to hurt?!” 

Stretch shot him a look. “Why do you care? Aren't you mister tough guy who can;t possibly care about anything?” Red growled at him, looking ready to fight someone.

“Why would i care?! She-” a look of realization came across his face and he sat back down. “You don’t know, do ya’?” When nobody responded he began to laugh. 

“Oh my stars! Thats hilarious!” he laughed again before grabbing his plate. “I'm going to my room.” he said, still giggling occasionally as he made his way upstairs.

“What was that about?” Sans asked. Nobody responded and stretch just shrugged. 

“I Am Going To Take This To Y/N. Goodnight Everyone.” Then papyrus left to come upstairs, where he found you bundled up halfway under the bed. He sat next to you and you clicked play on the movie.

You didn't go to sleep until 1 in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> snas: B A D T I M E  
> readz: (starts to cry)  
> snas: oh shit. wait no dont-- dont do that- wait
> 
> sorry the ending was a touch rushed. ive got big plans coming up babes. also, howd you like your first glimpse of the horror bros? i love them with all my heart.
> 
> tumblr again
> 
> https://brokenbonesnathan.tumblr.com/


	4. late night shenanigans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry its shorter than normal. the chapter got really long and this was where i cut it into two. the next chapter will be long and plot heavy. have no fears.

You wake up slowly, groggily flailing around for your alarm clock to check the time. 

You froze when something beside you moved slightly. You craned your head over your shoulder and locked eyes on a sleeping papyrus. This just made things at least 6 times more complicated. 

You began to carefully wiggle out of the mess of blankets on the floor, stopping every so often to look over at papyrus. 

You sighed in relief when you could stand upright and papyrus was still sleeping. You glanced over at your alarm clock and noted it to be roughly 3:30. That means you only got 2 and a half hours of sleep, and you don't think you’re going to be able to go back to sleep now. 

You sigh again, this one out of frustration, before an idea came to you. What better way to spend the next hour or two until it was sociably acceptable to wake up than practicing guitar?

But not here of course, no. The walls are too thin. Heck, blue could hear you playing from a floor below yours! And papyrus was still in here sleeping. 

You grabbed your guitar case and threw it over your shoulder, the strap on it crossing your chest. Then you sneakily made your way downstairs, wincing every time the stairs creaked. 

Finally, you made it to the first floor and crept out the back. Then you jogged out to the greenhouse and let yourself in.

Settling at the base of the willow tree, you took out your guitar and strummed it, checking if it was in tune. All seemed perfectly fine, so you strummed a few chords, trying to think of the melody you wanted to play. It hit you like a brick and you began to hum in tune with the twang of the guitar. ( https://youtu.be/SBcK-0MXG5M )

the song started slowly, with a good chunk of just strumming.

**Life's alright in devil town**

**Yeah right, no one's gonna catch us now**

**Daddy's bought a new car now**

**We're fine, no one's gonna catch us now**

You had some fun with the musical interlude, just enjoying it.

**We're all dead in devil town**

**That's fine, cause nothing's gonna scare us now**

**We're all in our dressing gowns**

**Mines white and stripy yours is green and brown**

**I forgot my name again**

**I think that's something worth remembering**

**Spiders in your favourite shoes**

**Just leave them because they're more scared of you**

You eased up on the guitar a bit but continued on.

**Devil town is colder in the summer time**

**I'll lose my mind at least another thousand times**

**Hold my hand tight,**

**We'll make it another night**

**I still get a little scared of something new**

**But I feel a little safer when I'm with you**

**Falling doesn't feel so bad**

**When I know you've fallen this way too**

**Life's a treat in devil town**

**My ears have acclimated to the sound**

**Pretty faces fly around and 'round**

**My head as it contemplates this town I've found**

The music changes pace, becoming slow and a bit sadder, and you find yourself a little more forlorn.

**It's lovely in the evening time**

**But every time I close my eyes**

**The sunshine gets a little dimmer now**

**The clouds fall down**

**I sink my teeth into my fingers**

**Blossom swims across the river**

**How**

**Do you feel so proud**

**Every time I close my eyes**

**The colours fade and change inside**

**My mouth**

**It's all too loud**

**I sink my teeth into my fingers**

**Blood forms branches in the water**

**It's lovely in the evening time**

**But every time I close my eyes**

**The sunshine gets a little dimmer now**

**The clouds fall down**

**I sink my teeth into my fingers**

**Blossom swims across the river**

**How**

**You feel so proud**

**Every time I close my eyes**

**The colours fade and change inside**

**My mouth**

**It's all too loud**

**I sink my teeth into my fingers**

**Blood forms branches in the water**

You slow down, finishing off the song with a softer voice.

**Devil town is colder in the summer time**

**I'll lose my mind at least another thousand times**

**Hold my hand tight,**

**We'll make it another night**

**I still get a little scared of something new**

**But I feel a little safer when I'm with you**

**Falling doesn't feel so bad**

**When I know you've fallen this way too**

The song ends and you just sit there in silence, before being startled by the sounds of clapping hands. 

Your neck almost cracks as you swivel to find the source of the noise. 

At first, you think it might be Papyrus, but upon closer inspection, you notice a few big differences. First off, they are way taller, like scary tall. Their teeth have been busted out of wack, and they squint as if they can’t properly see you. 

“YOU HAVE A LOVELY VOICE HUMAN!!” He seems to have trouble articulating and speaking, so it takes him a moment to get it all out. You blush embarrassedly, scratching at the back of your neck sheepishly.

“T-Thanks. I didn’t know I'd have an audience or I would have sung something more upbeat…” You trail off.

“I… liked… it.” Another figure you didn’t notice grunts out sporadically.

You flinch, thinking it was sans at first, the noticed he too looked different. You relaxed knowing it wasn’t sans, but became very concerned at what you saw. His clothes were disheveled and torn. He only had one eyelight, and it was blown wide and blood red, and also he was freakishly big. Like big enough that if he gave you a hug you'd be completely covered up. On that thought, hed be great for hugs… 

you got back on track..

Last of what you noticed, a large hole busted into the side of his head. You stood quickly, restraining yourself from rushing over to him.

“Are you okay?! You look hurt!” the panic is clear in your voice. He just shrugs and levels a crooked grin your way. He glares a bit and lumbers closer.

“I saw… you… flinch. Are you… scared?” there was an edge to his question. You shook your head rapidly. you couldn't let yourself have such a bad first impression!! 

“I will admit you surprised me, but i'm not scared! I thought you were sans. And thats why i flinched.” He looked surprised, then confused.

“Why would… you be… scared… of vanilla?” You winced at the question and opened your mouth before closing it again with no words. 

You settled on, “It’s hard for me to explain… Anyways! I’m Y/N! And you two are…?” you tried to change the subject quickly. Thankfully, the new skeleton dropped it. 

“I know... who you are. Sansy.. let me... know. I’m… Horror.” he hissed out the name with disgust. 

“AND I’M… Crooks…” the tall one lowered his voice unhappily towards the end. You quirked your head to the side curiously.

“You two don’t seem to like your names. May i ask why?” 

‘Horror’ gritted his teeth and growled lowly. “The jerks… back in… the house gave… us those… names… because our other… names were… not okay.” it didn't really answer my question but i nodded slightly. “they call him ‘crooks’... cause of his… teeth.” The tall skeleton seemed to hunch under those words.

Your expression morphed into one of horror and disgust. “That won’t do.” you growl. 

You take the tall skeletons hands in yours comfortingly, not seeing his and ‘horrors’ flinches. “You need a better name. What do you want to be called?” you asked. He looked confused. 

“What?”his head cocked to the side adorably and he suddenly reminded you of a little puppy.  


you reiterate the question. “What do you want to be called?” he hesitated. 

“I Don’t Know…” You nodded and thought on it.

“What about cinnamon!?” you blurted after a second. 

He looked intrigued. “Why?” 

You grinned. “Because you're sweet like a cinnamon bunny! But i can’t call you bunny because thats what Papyrus calls me!” 

he smiled widely. “I LOVE IT!!” He gushed happily. 

“What about… me?” Horror chimed in.

you turned to him thoughtfully. “What do you want to be called? I can think of some ideas if you want but if you have something in mind that might be better for you.” He sat for a moment in silence and you could see the gears grinding in his head. 

“Skull.” He spoke gruffly, smiling more genuinely and pointing at the hole in his head. You shrug. 

“If it works for you it works for me.” you bounce happily. ‘New changes! New friends! This is great!’ You can’t help but think. 

Theres a rumbling laugh next to you and you look over curiously. “Sure is great.” 

You flush brightly realizing you said that out loud. You hide your face in your hands and sink to the ground. 

Then you noticed the light beginning to show over the horizon and sighed. almost time to actually be awake.  


Cinnamon grins in an sad way. “SORRY TO LEAVE SO SUDDENLY BUT WE MUST BE GETTING HOME NOW.” 

You nod understandingly. “Yea, i gotta get started on breakfast for the others.” an idea hits you. “You could come if you want?” they both shake their heads.

“The… others don’t… like us… much. Would prefer… not too…” Skull speaks. You nod understandingly again.

“Sorry then. Maybe ill see you around?” Cinnamon nods happily and leaves, Skull close behind. 

Before he exits the greenhouse, skull turns to look at you. “See ya’... Around. Maybe don’t… tell the… others…?” You nod and flash him a big smile. 

His face gets weirdly red and he leaves, leaving you alone in the greenhouse to sigh and get up to cook.

...

Skull was intrigued with you.

From the moment he saw you, something about you had him infatuated. 

When he heard you talk to the fish and turtles at his pond, it only made him more curious. He knew there was a human on the grounds, vanilla had told him. Something about the way you smiled and complained about wasted food and fed the little turtle made his soul buzz. 

He had no idea why or what he was feeling, but he was determined to find out. Then he and Pap had been on their walk to the greenhouse and heard your voice… and wow. He was actually nervous for you to see him. 

He didn't know why, but the idea that you might be scared of him made his soul hurt a bit.

He shook it off. He was supposed to be some unhinged freak, some psycho axe murderer.

These… feelings… shouldn’t affect him. If you upset pap or scream or anything, he could always kill you. That thought left a bad taste in his mouth though. 

Maybe it was slightly stalkerish, but he really wanted to be near you. When you grabbed paps hands and helped them change their names it cemented the facts in his mind, he was going to get closer to you.

Just let the other try and stop him. Although he couldn’t see souls anymore, he had the feeling you were important. 

...

The day progressed slowly, and your encounter with Cinnamon and Skull stayed fresh in your head.

Lunch passed smoothly, and because it was a weekend, most of the known household was there for lunch. 

You pointedly avoided sans as much as possible. You could feel him looking at you though whenever you hung with the others. After the food was put away and the dishes cleaned, you went into the living room to find something to do.

You found red fast asleep on the couch, snoring away. You huffed a sigh and stepped over to him. You grunted and hefted him into your arms, holding him bridal style.

He was heavy for a pile of bones. 

Then you made your way upstairs to try and find his room. You were lucky that papyrus had given you a good tour, and his room was something you remembered. You nudged the door open and stepped inside. The floor was messy, and the blankets on the bed were tangled.

You sighed and pointedly ignored what looked like a tornado in the corner. You dropped him on his bed and he rolled over sleepily. Then he rolled a little too far and thumped onto the ground before you could stop him. You laughed a him a bit then tried to pick him up again. 

Suddenly, you heard pounding footsteps getting closer. They unnerved you but didnt set you off of you self appointed task . 

The the door slammed open and you startled, dropped red again. Luckily he landed on his bed this time.

In the doorway stood a very tall, very intimidating figure. He had sharp cheekbones and even sharper teeth, and was holding what looked to be a bone in his hand. Except the bone was broken to a point and glowing red. His eyes looked from you to red and he growled menacingly.

“WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?! AND WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO MY BROTHER?!?” His voice boomed.

He didn't give you a chance to answer, throwing the bone in your direction. You dodged just in time to avoid being skewered, rolling to the side. 

“Hold on i can explai-” another bone lodged itself an inch fro you head. You went into defense mode and dodged another, trying to lead him from the door and give you an opening to bolt. 

You felt like a scared, cornered rabbit. He stepped further into the room and you cheered mentally at you success.

You saw your opening as red groggily started to awaken. Tall, dark, and scary turned to him for a split second and you made a break for the door. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> reader: (at sans) no. that is bad. no thanks. very icky.  
> reader: (at any papyrus ever) baby man. give him love. absolute baby to me.
> 
> sorry bout the cliffhanger. also, i just wanna mention, some skeletons will burn quicker than others. horror is infatuated with readz on sight. his burn will be quicker than some of the others. hope you enjoyed!


	5. aftermath

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry its a bit short. my hermit crab just died. sorry also for last chapters cliffhanger.

You had been in this exact position many times before.

The paralyzing fear that comes with the thought of ‘oh shit. He’s really going to hurt me. He wasn’t kidding.’ And so, you reacted like you normally did when this happened. 

Flight won over fight in your head and you kept running. You couldn’t help but feel lucky that you’d been in the house long enough to know where to go, but that was smothered by the voice screaming ‘RUN!’ In all caps. 

Sprinting down the hall, you threw yourself down the stairs then whipped around a breakneck speed and raced down the hall. You could hear a commotion upstairs faintly, but ignored it in favor of putting more distance between you and your attacker. Bones were thrown behind you, almost hitting you a few times before you went down the stairs. Your mind locked onto the idea of somewhere safe and the inside of the greenhouse popped up first. You darted out the back door and raced to the greenhouse. 

You felt too exposed in the open field and tried to pick up the pace. You already felt tired though, and your legs ached already. You threw open the door and went inside, shutting the door behind you. Clicking the door closed felt you with a sense of safety, although short lived as the panic caught up. 

Once you were inside, your head began to clear a bit better though, and you were able to think a bit more rationally. 

Hide. You needed to hide somewhere, who knows if you’re in the clear yet. Looking up at that one tall willow tree, an idea came to you. 

You hooked your hands on the lowest branches and climbed up, sometimes having to dig your nails in to avoid falling. After a few good minutes of scrambling, you were somewhere in the middle of the tree, hidden by thick bushels of leaves. The branch you sat on was thick, and definitely big enough to hold your small amount of weight. You leaned your back against the trunk of the tree, glancing about at all the flowering plants and rampant weeds.

It was a good distraction from the horrible flashbacks trying to push their way into your mind. The knife, the bat, **his** fists... 

you shook the thoughts from your head violently. 

It helped that you were not cornered like a scared rabbit, or in the wide open to be easily seen. Your mind had gone from ‘panic! Run!’ And straight to, ‘keep your guard up. Evaluate.’ 

You were safe for now, he wasn’t here, and you were well hidden.

You were still trembling though, and you guessed those wouldnt stop for a while. Your phone buzzed and made you jolt a bit. You opened it to see over 30 concerned texts from papyrus. You didn’t look at any of them, settling on just shoving the phone back into your pocket. 

Your senses were on such a high alert that you heard the creak of the greenhouse door through your haze. You went straight as a rod, even your breathing stopped. You heard the crunch of feet in the dead grass patches, slowly approaching the tree. There was a thump as someone sat heavily at the base of the tree.

“I know… youre up… there.” A familiar voice croaked from the base of the tree. You peeked over the branch to check anyways. There, at the tree trunk, sat skull. His head was tilted at just the right angle that his one lit socket peered up at you through the leaves.

You offered a shaky grin and his own smile faltered. “The main… house seems… shaken. That have… anything to do… with you?” He asks. 

You nod sheepishly. “Some tall scary guy came up and tried to stab me. He said something about being reds brother. I just ran…” you looked away from his curious eyelight. “I have… bad memories… when it comes to scary big men and stabby objects.” You glanced back down to him to see him just nodding.

He didn’t ask any more questions, and you were grateful to him for that. He looked back up to you after a moment and his eye locked on your still quivering form. His eyelight contracted, going to be about the size of a quarter.

“You’re shaking.” He says, more of a statement than anything else.

You just nod, kind of confused. He opens his mouth to say someone when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulls it out and glances at the screen before he starts to chuckle. “Looks like… the boys at the... main house… are looking… for you.” He chuckles again. 

“Thanks… I don’t think I’m ready to go back just yet…” you say, still perched in the tree.

He nod understandingly, then hesitantly opens his arms. “Need a… hug? My bro… says there… good for… comforting.” You immediately brighten up, trying to hide the giant grin threatening to break out across your face.

You nod and set to work scrambling back down the tree. Once at the bottom, you all but throw yourself into skulls arms. He lets out an ‘oof’ noise but smirks at you before hugging you back.

“You… like physical… contact, don’t… you?” You nod and don’t let go. He chuckled and wraps you a bit tighter in his arms. It feels like being wrapped up in a big warm blanket. His bones are somehow emitting heat and it’s crazy comfortable. 

You don’t even register yourself nuzzling into his chest. Slowly, your vision starts to darken.

All of the stress catches up to you and drags your body down screaming “get some rest!!” 

You're out like a light.

Skulls POV real quick.

How could he have gotten so lucky?!

Your warm body curled up to his… wow. He never wouldve thought he would miss physical contact with anyone but… 

just wow. 

When he saw a few familiar skeletons disperse into his woods he got suspicious immediately. He saw that as a chance to visit the greenhouse and got there quickly. When he realized you were up in that tree he couldnt believe his luck. 

Seeing you again so soon? Epic.

then he saw you shaking. His first reaction was, ‘who do i need to hurt?’ 

...then his phone buzzed. The text made him laugh.

_‘Human in the woods. Dont kill them.’ -sans._

Great. Quality comedy. When you readily agreed to a hug, his soul thumped hard. He doesnt know how he got so attached to you so quickly. 

He setted for pushing those feelings away and hugging you tighter. 

When your breath evened out, he smiled happily. You and him sat in silence.

Back at the main house…

Sans sighed as he ushered edge to take a seat around the coffee table in the living room.

“Now that everyones back from looking, its about time we had a talk.” he speaks up. 

Papyrus looks upset. “BROTHER… SHES STILL OUT THERE, DO YOU REALLY THINK THIS IS THE RIGHT TIME TO TALK?” 

sans smiles at papyrus. “It wont take long.” the gathered skeletons lean in. “you felt it, right?” Sans asks, directing his attention to edge. 

Edge nods stiffly.

“And you saw it? In her soul?” sans looks between stretch and red, who both nod.

Blue looks lost, but is intently listening. 

“She… 

she has EXP.” 

In the corner, Papyrus is fidgeting nervously with his scarf.

Red looks conflicted. He turns to edge. “But you also know…?” he trails off questioningly.

Edge nods. “I… I MAY HAVE SCREWED UP.”

the other skeletons reel. 

Edge would never admit he was wrong in any way. What do they know? 

“I ASSUME THE OTHERS DON’T KNOW YET?” Red smirks, and edge follows. “HOW BAD HAS SANS FUCKED IT UP?” red just chuckles, and that answer seems to satisfy edge. 

Blue glances over to papyrus, who startles at the look.  “YOU’VE KNOWN MRS. Y/N FOR THE LONGEST… AND YOU’VE BEEN AWFULLY SILENT…” 

Papyrus anxiously messes with his gloves. “I… I Can’t Tell You… She Wouldnt Want That.” now all attention is on papyrus.

“bro... what do you know?” 

Papyrus avoids sans's eyes. Then, abruptly, he stands. “I know that she is still lost, I will go continue to look for her.” he then dashes from the room. The tension in the room is thick. 

Red shrugs. “I ought to go look too. I think i need to apologize.” he blips out of the room entirely.

The other skeletons disperse to search once again.

Reds pov

Red blips out to the backyard. 

Its as good a place as any to start looking. He decides to start with the greenhouse. Stretch appears next to him and red just nods.

They approach the greenhouse and let themselves in. 

Red and stretch go ramrod straight at the scene in front of them. 

Horror is hunched over your motionless form, eyelight blown wide and teeth pulled into a sharp grin. His head turns and that eyelight bores into red and stretch creepily.red cant tell if your breathing or not and his soul thumps.  


Stretch blips from existence, leaving red alone with the large, threatening, skeleton. 

Red takes a hesitant step closer and horror does not react. Seeing this as a good sign, red continues to walk closer. 

He eventually sits in the grass, a mere 2 feet away from the axe-murderer.

“Heya’ buddy. She alive?” red asks nonchalantly. 

Horror nods. “Fell asleep… on me…” Horror grunts. 

Red nods and scoots closer to look at you. “Shes cute, aint she horror?” Horror nods but looks displeased by something.

“I want… to be called… skull… now.” Hor-  _ Skull  _ spoke again.

Red grinned. “I think it suits you.” Skull bares his teeth in a grin that would look threatening to anyone who didnt know him as well as Red did.

Red leans in conspiratorially. “Ya wanna know somethin’?” 

Skull looks at him curiously still grinning widely.

“Im sittin on a big piece of information here.” red smiles. 

“Basically-”

he is stopped by the door to the greenhouse slamming open. 

Sans and the others rush in looking panicked. 

Skulls eyelight get small and he hunches himself more over Y/N in a protective manner, a deep rumbling snarl starting in his throat.

...

Well this can’t possibly end well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> skull: i am a murderer. i have killed and eaten human. feelings? no thanks.  
> skull: (after talking to readz a total of 2 times) ...  
> skull: i am in love. 
> 
> i want to portray red and horror as having a friendship of sorts. i am a sucker for soft horrortale. of course, horror is still a killer, but he has a soul. also... why does reader have EXP? what does that have to do with her past? find out in the future.


	6. de-escalation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for missing a weekly update more about that at the end. also im sorry this ones short

You wake up to an earthquake. 

After a panicked moment, you realized nothing else was rumbling. You looked around and found yourself curled up to skull. 

He was growling harshly, snarling even. You saw the scene laid out clear in front of you. 

The panicked household by the doors, red acting as some sort of wall between you two and the others, and cinnamon standing nervously in the back, close enough to the doors to run if need be. You yawned and skull looked down at you, his growling going a touch quieter. 

You raise a hand and carefully set it against skulls cheek. He leans into it, but doesn’t relax. 

“What’s all the Growlin’ for buddy?” He doesn’t answer, but you see his eye flick to sans and the other skeletons.

You nod in absently, and start to lightly scritch at his cheek, just barely running your nails against the bone. A low noise, a lot like a purr, replaces the growling, and his eye closes.

You keep it up, tiredly glancing over again. Red looked a little surprised, but it melted into something between jealous and happy. You smirked at him. 

“What? Want me to pet you too?” He hesitantly nods and crawls closer to you. You use your other hand to scritch at his jaw too. He starts purring as well, albeit so quiet you barely hear it, and scratchy like he'd never made that noise before. 

You turn your attention to the skeleton crew by the doors. “What’s up?” You ask nonchalantly. 

Cinnamon steps around them and walks to sit next to you and the other two. No words are spoken for a bit, and the air is heavily awkward. After another moment, stretch backed up a bit. 

“Well this seems to be settled, I’m going to take a nap.” He snapped his fingers and disappeared completely. You were shocked, swiveling your head about only to find he wasn’t there anywhere. A wide smile stretched across your face in amazement. “That was… so cool!!!” You gush. You'd only seen red do that once, but it was still amazing.

Sans offers that same lazy smile, but it seems strained. “Hehe Yea… um… look, we brought edge over, and he’s gonna apologize. Right, edge?” Sans speaks, turning to look pointedly at the tall edgelord skeleton who attacked you.

You hadn’t even noticed him in the room. 

Skull straightened up. “He What?” Skull started to growl, but the purr that was already rumbling in him won out. He didn’t stop glaring though. 

Red looked sheepish off to the side. “He means well he just-“ you cut him off with a look, removing your hand from his cheek. He looked saddened.

“I want to hear it from him.” You state simply, moving to pet cinnamon off to the side. Red looks almost longingly at cinnamon but just nods at you. ‘Edge’ seems properly named. He steps forward and crosses his arms. Is… is he… sweating? 

“I- well you see- its like-“ he huffed angrily before shooting you a steely glare. “Red Is My Brother. I Thought You Were Hurting Him. Where We Came From, I Had To Do A Lot To Protect My Brother. My Response To You Was Instinctual. That Being Said…” he trailed off, his cheekbones glowing a faint red. “ImSorryIAttackedYou.” He rambled out in one breath before turning his nose up in the air to the side like some anime girl.

You giggle a bit, but cover it well. “Thank you edge. I appreciate it.” you say sincerely. 

He nods stiffly and practically sprints out of the greenhouse, struggling to make it look like a brisk walk. 

Red looks at you apologetically. “Gotta go. See ya ‘round kitten.” Then he disappears, just like stretch did, leaving you with skull, cinnamon, sans, blue, and papyrus. 

You sit up straight in panic. “Oh shit! I gotta make dinner soon!!” You stop petting the skeletons next to you and stand.

You’re sad you had to stop, cinnamon was practically melting against your hand. Skull looks sad too, but you don’t really notice. 

You bolt out the door, racing to the kitchen to get started on the meal. Blue follows close behind, getting to the kitchen a few seconds after you. He looks almost… nervous? Hesitant? Whatever. There’s a light blue blush on his face and he opens his mouth to speak. 

Then papyrus bursts Into the room. Blue shuts his mouth with a click, looking annoyed.

The annoyance on his face is gone so quickly you wonder if you'd imagined it.

You shake it off and get to work on dinner. Papyrus and blue cheerfully keep up conversation with you for a while. Dinner gets put on the table, and just about everyone comes down to eat.

You don't see edge anywhere, and red just grabs two plates before disappearing with a lazy wave in your direction.

Dinner goes smoothly, if a little awkward, and you get to work cleaning the dishes up.

...

As you’re walking back to the stairs to get to your room, you overhear and argument.

“Yea? Well what happened to bad boy red, huh? I know this wouldn’t have flown if you were back home. Seems like you’ve become pretty domesticated to me. I mean really, letting a human pet you? Purring about it? Callin’ them ‘kitten’?” 

Whoever was on the receiving end, red you think, was growling harshly. 

“What’re you gonna do? Bite me? What would your brother think?” the first voice spoke again.

“DONT bring boss into this ashtray!” Red snarled. 

You think it’s time for you to step in. You walk around the corner to see stretch smirking cruelly at red whose teeth are bared. 

“What the hell do you think your doing?!” You cross your arms, glaring at stretch. 

You had never pegged him as this kinda guy. He looks surprised, and red is just still. where did his eyelights go? 

You stalk forward and put yourself between stretch and red, still glaring. “Picking on someone just because of their past? Intentionally provoking them?! I thought you were better than this.” He looks properly scolded, and his shoes seemed to be particularly interesting. You shook your head, a bit of your disbelief showing through. 

“We can talk later. I’m taking red.” You grabbed reds arm and stalked from the hall.

He didn’t fight it or anything, just letting you drag him upstairs to the gamerooms. You pull him into one of them and let him go finally. 

Then you plop down in a beanbag and motion towards the one next to you. 

He wordlessly flops down. He opens his mouth to speak but closes it again without saying anything.

“You don’t have to talk about any of that. Thats between you two, although i will be talking to him later.” You say, shoving a controller into his hands.

“Let’s play some Minecraft!” You cheer. 

A small smile pulls at the corners of his mouth. 

...

He warms up quickly, that weird, uncomfortable air around him dissipating with the more games you two played.

You just started some bed wars, and his reflexes are incredible. 

“You play a lot?” 

He nods, his eyes not leaving the screen. “Spent a lot of time in these rooms.”

The victory screen popped up and you two high fived with big grins. 

“I’m best when it comes to first person shooters though.” He smirks. “Just wait until you get to be here for a game night. They happen once a month and everyone plays. It’s epic.” He looks so excited you can’t help be excited too.

“I can’t wait.” You speak honestly. 

...

You two play through the night, stopping sometime around 1:00. You yawned and look over at red, whose asleep in a beanbag.

You stand and start off towards the stairs that led to your room. Surprisingly, blue passes you in the hall. 

He grins and stops you. “H-hey! I Wanted To Ask You Something…” his skull is flushed a light blue. 

It’s adorable.

“I Was Going To Ask Earlier But… Nevermind That! Would You… Would You Want To Join Me For A Movie Night?” 

he looks so nervous! 

You smile widely. “Of course!! When? And where?” His worried expression melts into one of joy. He lets out a relived sigh and you to hash out the details in the hallway. 

You’ll meet him in one of the gamerooms tomorrow and you two would watch movies for a while. 

It sounded fun! 

You wave him a goodbye and you two walk off in separate directions. 

...

You don’t see stretch observing quietly from the shadows. It really wasn't his business, and even after you got on to him. He'll admit, he went a little too far with teasing red. Thats a problem for later, he guesses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Legend has it: blue is still blushing to this day. This- this wasn’t a date!! Unless?
> 
> it seems as though red and stretch have a bit of rivalry... i wonder how MC will play into this later...
> 
> sorry again for missing an update, i ran into writers block. its killing me. so if i dont get the next out on time in sorry, but i will do my best. i have so many ideas, and i just dont know hoe to put them on the page. sorry again.


	7. sleepover? idk lol i cant title things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so for being missing lol. i havent been able to write lately and i live in texas. if you dont know, texas had a big freeze and our power grid was not prepared for the strain of this. we lost power at my house for almost 72 hours straight. no internet, no lights, no heat, nothing like that. then our water got contaminated, pipes burst and flooded the downstairs and parts of the upstairs and it was bad. on top of that, my fish died. r.i.p sushi, you were my favorite. heres the chapter i managed to write tho! sorry if its bad, it was rushed.

The darkness was a tangible thing. 

Solid and very, very real. It was inky and fluid, but definitely there.

You don’t know why you were here, or what you were doing. You… 

you couldn’t remember. 

What were you forgetting? What did you not know? 

A figure appeared before you, and boy were they strange looking. A strange beast composed of the strange dark fluid that made up the room you were in. The only thing that told you that he wasn’t a wall was his face and hands. 

His mouth didn’t move, stuck curled into a thin smile, but a voice resonated in your head. “Better wake up now. We can’t have you forgetting everything yet. The void has a way of snatching memories.” 

Your eyes were transfixed on his hands, even as you nodded.  They were so strange. 

He had many, and each and every one had a perfectly round, completely circular hole cut into the palm. 

That’s the last thing you remember seeing, a hand flying straight for your face.

.

.

.

You awoke with a start, falling out of bed in the process and landing on the floor with a thump. 

You groaned in mild pain but untangled yourself from the mess of blankets you had pulled down with you. 

What had you been trying to do? Oh yea!

You swiftly made your way to your closet. Rustling around inside, you snatched a tattered notebook from under some clothes. Holding it up triumphantly, you grabbed a pen off your side table and sat on your bed. 

Writing quickly, you jotted down every last detail of the dream you could recall before snapping the small book shut. You carefully placed the combination dream journal and poetry book in a new hiding place. Under a loose floorboard you had noticed while sweeping the dirt and dust from the room. 

The clock read 1:26 and you sighed.

You grabbed all the blankets on the floor and dragged them under the bed. You had carefully cleaned under the bed just for this reason. You grabbed a whole bunch of old hair clips and started bundling blankets under the bed to form some sort of fort.

You resolved to buy fairy lights for this and to keep it around. You could buy more blankets for above the bed, but this was comfy.

You curled up inside the little nest of sorts and fell asleep almost immediately. 

...

The alarm woke you like normal and you got dressed and hurried downstairs to prepare breakfast. 

You tried not to let that strange dream get to you, but you couldn’t help but think about it a bit. Details were already fading from your mind, and things were already sorta fuzzy in the way dreams get after you wake.

Breakfast was simple, and after you made it, you didn’t bother to wait for the household to get downstairs to eat it, you just made your way straight outside to the greenhouse. 

There was still a lot of weeding to do. As an afterthought, you darted back inside and grabbed a big black trash back. You can put all the weeds you pull in here until you can set the boys up with a good compost system.

It was hard work, and you would definitely need to be out here more. There’s no possible way you can finish weeding this whole place unless you skip lunch, dinner, movie night with blue, and stay up past 12. It may have to be a two or three day job. 

You kept up the hard work though. It was sweaty, dirty work, and you only took a break after you had cleared a good fifth of the ground. Add that to the fifth you cleared with red and you were getting closer to being done. 

Time to explore and have some fun on your small self appointed break. You carefully skirted the plastic tables of pots and kept your eyes on the grass. You ended up finding a clover patch in a far corner, and plopped yourself down in it. 

After you planned and planted all the plots in here, all the in between walkways could grow clovers. Clovers are pretty, and help with some natural biodiversity. You don’t need to rid the greenhouse of clovers, mostly because clovers aren’t as invasive as some of the other plants you were pulling up. Just casual trimming should keep them out of the other plants. 

You trailed your fingers through the little green plants, feeling how soft they were. As you did this, you felt your fingers run over something smooth. You backtracked, going back to the spot you felt whatever that was. You felt it again and carefully put a hand around where it was, wrenching it up out of the ground and pulling out some clovers with it. In your hand you held one of the prettiest rocks you’d ever seen.

It was all black and really shiny. The rock was formed in lots of beautiful points and blocks, so you reasoned it must be some sort of mineral. A wide smile spread across your face at finding this. You stood up and raced towards the main house. 

You just barely remembered to kick off your muddy boots to not track mud in. You sped upstairs and straight to your attic room. You dug in the drawers of the side table and pulled out an old shoebox. You opened it to reveal your collection of rocks, minerals, and crystals. you placed the new shiny inside. Carefully closing it back up, you set it inside the blanket fort under the bed. You’d have to look up what it was later. 

You were overjoyed. Then you remembered the surplus of work left for you in the greenhouse and sighed. 

You stood and made yourself a quick lunch before heading out again. You hadn’t seen any of the skeletons in a while, but you chalked it up to the fact that they have jobs too. You didn’t have to make them lunch, lunch was a bit of a free for all/fend for yourself thing.

Back to work you supposed. You worked the rest of the day away, until a good two thirds of it was cleared of those nasty invasive plants. You proudly stood and swept the area with your eyes to check for anything you missed that could be corrected now.

There was nothing, so you marched your muddy, sweaty self inside for a shower. You passed papyrus and waved tiredly. He responded with an enthusiastic wave back. You made it upstairs and into the shower. A hot shower always made things better, and the heat felt so good against your sore muscles. You knew you would be hurting a lot worse when you woke up tomorrow, but you decided to relish the warmth for now. 

After you got out and got dressed in something comfy, you headed downstairs to make dinner. Something simple tonight, just because you're kinda tired. You set your phone down and started playing some bops.

As you cooked, you swirled and swayed around the kitchen to the tune of the music. You spun and skipped as you cooked, allowing yourself to just relax and perform a stupid little abstract routine. You started to hum along to the music, needing this outlet for emotions you hadn’t had in a while. You pushed those emotions into your voice, not really singing but not silent either. You knew the beat of this song, but you didn’t remember the words. They slipped from your mind, leaving you to just mumble the tune out. There was something wet on your cheek, and you wiped at it confusedly. It then occurred to you that you were crying. 

You shook your head and finished making dinner. You set it on the table and wiped your hands against your pants. You cleared your throat. 

“Dinners ready!!” You shouted, cupping your hands around your mouth to amplify your voice. Blue and papyrus came in first, seeing as they were in the nearest room to the dining room. They were followed by a frustrated edge dragging a half asleep red to the table. Sans stepped in just after, and stretch slipped in while you were busy laughing at red on the floor. 

“Oh ha ha. Laugh at my misery why don’t cha’. Ya’ wound me.” He says dramatically. 

“GET YOUR LAZY BONES OFF OF THE GROUND RIGHT THIS INSTANT YOU MISCREANT!!” Edge shrieked at him. He sighed but dragged himself to stand, only to flop his body into a chair like he had no bones.

You all started eating. Blue finished first, and you right after. “COME ON (Y/N)!! LETS GO!!” He stood upright, his eyes briefly swirling into adorable little stars. 

You couldn’t help the wide smile that came over your face. “Yea! You got them all picked out or do I get to help?” He shook his head.

“I’ve Got Them All Lined Up. All The Classics!” He said bubblily. Then he bolted off leaving you to follow. 

“What’s happening?” Red questioned before you could start off down the hall. 

“Oh! Blue invited me to watch movies with him! I figured it’d be okay because I did everything I was supposed to do today.” You smiled widely, not even trying to hide your excitement at getting to watch movies with your new friend. “I haven’t gotten to watch a movie in a long time.” Your voice grew almost wistful. 

You waved and left the room, bolting upstairs so as not to keep blue waiting. You didn’t hear the boys back in the kitchen talk amongst themselves. 

“Dammit.” Red muttered. “Now I gotta come up with something better than that…” he can’t let the little blue twerp get her before he gets a chance. Not happening. too bad she has so many potential matches...  


...

You got upstairs and found blue excitedly digging through a box of dvds. His smile was contagious, and you grinned as well. 

The movie binge commenced. 

Mean girls, legally blond, finding Nemo, a James Bond movie, and more lined up. It wasn’t until you were starting a marvel movie that the fatigue from the day hit you. And boy were you tired.

All the hard work adding up to make your eyelids feel heavy. You were leaning up against blue, but he seemed like he was okay with it so you didn’t move.

Your eyelids fluttered closed despite your best effort to stay awake, and you were out. 

...(pov switch)

Blue’s skull was bright baby blue. 

You had passed out right on his shoulder, and when he shifted a bit, you flopped over his lap. 

You looked so content as you curled up on him, chest over his legs and head pillowed on the couch on the other side of him. He didn’t dare move, for fear of waking you up. 

A part of him longed for more of this. More of you close to him, but maybe if you were awake. 

Then a thought came to him.

You wouldn’t have fallen asleep on him if you didn’t trust him, right? So, to some degree, you felt safe around him. 

This made his soul do metaphorical flips in his rib cage.

Next question, how to get more time like this?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> seems as though red might be a little jealous... and what did he mean by "so many potential matches"? is blue realizing he has feelings of some sort? what was that wacky dream and why is the author getting into the plot so early?!? find out eventually i guess...

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this, whomsoever is out there reading it! Im Nathaniel and this was 'Greenhouses And Old Bones'! I already have the next few chapters planned. Stay safe!   
> no longer looking for beta, i have decided to truly die like a man.


End file.
